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Trump says ‘gross negligence’ by DNC allowed hacking to take place

On December 29, the outgoing US administration slapped new sanctions on Moscow over the alleged hacking into US political institutions

NEW YORK, January 7. /TASS/. US President-elect Donald Trump has blamed the Democratic National Committee for allowing hackers into its computer systems.

"Gross negligence by the Democratic National Committee allowed hacking to take place. The Republican National Committee had strong defense!" Trump wrote on his Twitter page.

On Friday, the US intelligence chiefs held a special briefing for Trump in New York that was devoted to hacker attacks against the US political institutions, including the Democratic National Committee. The outgoing US administration accused Russia of being behind this hacking, but gives no evidence.

On December 29, the outgoing US administration slapped new sanctions on Moscow over the alleged hacking into US political institutions. These sanctions apply to several Russian companies, the Federal Security Service and the Main Intelligence Agency of Russia’s General Staff. Besides that, the US authorities declared 35 Russian diplomats persona non grata and shut down two recreational compounds in New York and Maryland owned by the Russian government.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any role in cyberattacks. Commenting on the new sanctions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were a manifestation of aggression.

In July, WikiLeaks published e-mails stolen by hackers from the systems of the US Democratic National Committee. The hacked e-mails indicated that Democratic Party representatives were actively searching for ways to support Hillary Clinton during the primaries instead of remaining neutral, while trying to discredit her rival in the nomination, Bernie Sanders. The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and other DNC officials announced their resignation amid the scandal.